Offshoring and Supply Chains

          Every decision a competitive company makes is to satisfy and build up ‘number one’-the company.  Including its name, its product, and especially its financial state.  Both outsourcing and offshoring are simply a concept developed by companies to improve all three of these.  Outsourcing is simply taking a step in the production that could have been done by them ‘in shop’ and shipping it to another location to complete the job for less money in less time.  Offshoring on the other hand is completely picking up the entire business and moving it to a location that would provide greater opportunity to produce a product with less money.  China is one of the most preferred locations for offshoring, which would explain why ‘Made In China’ is found on seemingly every product we purchase here in the United States. 

Another tool that has flattened the world are supply chains.  Before reading this section of the book I didn’t realize there was an actual term for a brilliantly mastered system designed solely to meet supply and demand needs, however, that is what a supply chain does.  Wal-Mart is the perfect example of a well-greased supply chain- it is the best in the world.  When products are purchased from a Wal-Mart information is sent directly to the database signaling, ‘hey! This product is in hot demand, we need to make more!’ More materials are made, and then shipped (all through an electronic track and scanning factory) directly to the Wal-Mart in need of the products.  However, to take it a step further, Wal-Mart hardly makes the products.  They are a huge base for thousands of companies to ship their product to, to have sold in Wal-Mart’s stores.  There is a great need for close observance of the sales and returns.  In my opinion Wal-Mart has been so successful simply du to its ability to make minute adjustments consistently in order to beat competitors.

These amazingly intricate and hard working supply-chains do more than just keep shelves stocked, they give businesses a fair opportunity to sell product without having to create their own stores.  What an opportunity it gives not only Americans, but also people from all around the world to have a job by creating new things to be sold.  However, many jobs have been dissolved simply due to the increase in technology.  As mentioned earlier, there are machines that do the majority of the packaging and processing. These systems do make it much more efficient however, thousands of people could enjoy a job at Wal-Mart if they took the place of these machines. 

While speaking of the most grandiose businesses it would only be appropriate to mention Google.  The other day I was speaking with a fellow classmate whose wife’s job is to program search engines (SEO-search engine operator). Businesses come to her, and pay her x amount of dollars for programming the systems so when a search is made their business’s website will be the first to pop up on the screen.  If you were to think about the way you navigate Google, you, along with millions of others, would probably realize that because we are so used to getting just what we want within a few moments at our fingertips we will click one of the first 3 or 4 links dealing with our search. Businesses who are willing to pay more money have a greater chance of being the top search result, meaning their site will be visited.  Because of these search engines individuals can link with big companies and big companies can link with other big companies.  It has truly flattened the world. A thought can turn into reality because of Google’s ability to link us all together.